Barcelona forward wanted to take penalty vs Mallorca before Gundogan missed – report
Lamine Yamal was the hero on the night when Barcelona took on Mallorca in La Liga earlier this week. The La Masia protege scored an outrageous winner late in the second half at Montjuic, giving his side three points and capping off a much-needed win.
The youngster’s goal was the only goal Barcelona managed on the night, although the game could have been blown open much earlier. I
t was Ilkay Gundogan who had the golden chance to put his side ahead in just the 24th minute from the penalty spot, but only managed a clumsy attempt that did not hit the back of the net.
The penalty debacle
Barcelona won the spot-kick on the night through Raphinha, who was brought down in the box after a glaring foul. The Brazilian eventually made his way off the field 15 minutes later, albeit with the scoreline still reading 0-0 after the penalty was missed.
According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Joao Felix made his way to the ball and paraded it to the penalty spot immediately after the referee blew his whistle.
The Portuguese starlet wanted to take the penalty and get on the scoresheet against Mallorca but was stopped by Gundogan who had a word with him.
After the conversation, Felix backed off and let his senior strike the ball. Unfortunately for the team, his effort on this occasion did not strike gold.
A rare blue
Despite missing the penalty, Gundogan was one of the team’s best and most influential players on the field last night. His error from the spot can only be described as a sporadic occurrence, for he has otherwise been flawless for the Blaugranas this season.
The Spanish outlet, in fact, adds that Felix and Gundogan had a similar disagreement in Barcelona’s match against Las Palmas earlier this season when the team won a penalty.
On that occasion too, the Portuguese star was stopped by the German who took the spot-kick.
That time, however, Gundogan was on point and converted from the spot, as is usually the case with the treble-winner.
